Show Summary

Riko is an orphan girl living in the island town of Orth, centered on a gigantic hole called The Abyss. Discovered about 1900 years ago, groups of treasure hunters called cave raiders dive into the Abyss regularly to collect valuable artifacts. While cave raiding, a beast attacks Riko. A robot child saves her.

After naming the amnesiac robot Reg and sneaking him into her orphanage, Riko receives a message from her mother, a legendary and powerful cave raider, to meet her at the Abyss’ bottom. With Reg by her side, Riko then escapes from her orphanage and heads for the Abyss’ depths.

Season 1 Episode 1 – City of the Great Pit

The first episode begins with Riko and Nat on a journey, cave raiding. Then, a beautiful crimson splitjaw attacks them. The children then stumble upon a robot child who doesn’t recall his identity. Riko develops an affection for the robot and names him Reg, in honor of her dog with the same name.

The children help admit Reg into Belchero Orphanage in which they live, so he is safe and they could learn why he is suffering from memory loss. Ironic they took him there because it’s practically a torture chamber. They even electrocuted Reg to wake him up. Riko’s theory is that Reg is originally from the bottom of the abyss. The title of the show seems to allude to the idea that Reg was “made in abyss”. It’s later revealed that Reg’s one robotic arm acts as a convenient grappling hook for sticky situations.

The beautifully crafted music, art, concept, and story make up Made in Abyss. The score has the perfect amount of emotion in it complemented by calm pacing that gradually speeds up and increases in intensity pretty quickly.

The art for environment has this realistic aesthetic that resonates well with me. Somehow, it gives me a nostalgic feel due to the pastel colors that blend really well together. The characters and creatures are obviously sketched out. This is not a fault, it works for the show and gives them more of a pop.

Made in Abyss brings forward a fairly new and unused concept and story. To think that with each layer, a different set of effects are in place is intriguing. It makes the audience think: “what will happen next?” and “what is the level of gore and despair they’ll endure?”

The anime has great potential, considering the vast world it features, along with the abyss which is a character in itself. The various layers within the abyss increase the depth of the show (no pun intended), amping up the excitement with each descent.

About Lindsay Schubert

Lindsay is a new gaming, anime, and manga writer at BentoByte. She enjoys television, film, gaming, literature and comics. Notably, her favorite show is Lost and her favorite game series is Super Mario. She also speedruns and streams on her Twitch and Youtube channels.